53. Mya
FLORENCE, ITALY – THREE DAYS LATER
53
“Mya Cattaneo.” I’d stumbled over the proper way to say my last name, so I gave it another shot as we hit a bump in the dirt road, knocking me into Oliver sitting next to me. “Sounds so strange.”
“After thirty years, hearing a different last name paired with yours will do that.” Oliver squeezed my hand, resting our clasped palms on top of my long, flowy linen skirt.
I must’ve changed a hundred times trying to decide what to wear to meet my family, finally settling on an off-the-shoulder khaki-colored top paired with a matching long skirt.
My parents and sister had no idea I’d be at the small police station in Fiesole, a hilltop town with great views of the city of Florence. They’d been summoned to the station with an update on the “cold case” of their missing daughter, and they’d requested Adelina be present as well for the news.
I didn’t want my parents and sister preparing themselves for the worst, assuming police had found the remains of a child presumed to be their daughter, so I’d asked them to come across positive without giving too much away. I wanted the story and truth to come straight from me. It didn’t feel right having it shared via a third party before our reunion.
So, there I was heading to the station after only learning the truth a few days earlier myself. Easton and Teddy were in the SUV with us as our security escorts, with Teddy behind the wheel, and there were two additional armed vehicles boxing us in as protection.
Oliver leaned closer and whispered in my ear, “Everything will be okay. They’ll love you.”
I still couldn’t believe this was happening. Or that Mason had “hung out” with my twin sister in his late twenties. And here I thought he’d usually only “dated” models in between when we’d been doing the whole friends-with-benefits thing. My sister is an FBI agent in New York. Holy shit.
“You two good back there?” Easton turned in his seat to look at us.
I nodded. “Thanks for being here with us.”
“We’ve got nothing else better to do.” Easton winked.
Teddy caught my eyes in the rearview mirror. “He means no place else we’d rather be.”
I chuckled while checking my watch, realizing Michael’s plane would be landing Stateside soon. “So glad he’s almost home with his family and okay,” I said softly, musing my thoughts out loud as if the others were clued in on them.
“I talked to Julia while you were trying on outfit number fifty-seven,” Oliver teased, “and they’ll be transporting Michael to Walter Reed until he’s fully recovered. Plenty of security provided, too.”
“The guy really is the Man of Steel,” Teddy remarked. “Thank God for that.”
“You’re all heroes.” I sighed, squeezing Oliver’s hand, so relieved we were on the verge of this ending so we could start our lives.
“We’re about there,” Teddy let us know as Oliver’s phone began buzzing.
“If Griffin’s calling, do you think that means they got into the vault?” I asked after eyeing his name on the caller ID.
Griffin had been the only one from Falcon who’d gone with Nick Vasquez, to be a friendly face for Nick when attempting to crack into what was supposed to be an “uncrackable” safe.
“I guess we’re about to find out.” Oliver placed the call on speaker, letting Griffin know who else was on the line when the call connected.
“Anyone up for knowing who really killed JFK?” Griffin was probably kidding, but at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised about anything.
“So, you got in.” More good news. Just let it keep raining with all the positives, please.
“Yeah, I, uh, was kidding about the JFK part. Channeling Jack, I suppose,” Griffin answered. “I wouldn’t be shocked if they were part of that, though. Bet there’s something on Area 51. There’s a lot down here. And I mean a lot. It’ll take time for the team to go through it all.”
Guess that’s why The Collective couldn’t up and move everything and tried the drone strike first.
“Once everything is secure, does Mya have the go-ahead to reveal the names from the list? Tell the world who they are?” Oliver asked the all-important question.
“It’d help to have a few photos to go along with it, like from those archives,” I said before Griffin responded.
“POTUS is thinking within four or so weeks. He wants to round up as many assholes from that list as he can first. But since Uncle Sam already neutralized their insiders on that French vessel outside Abu Dhabi, and handled the assholes in Lake Como who tried to drone strike this place, it’s safe to say the cat’s out of the bag. The Collective knows we’re gunning for them,” Griffin shared as we rolled up to the side of the police station, making my heart work double time.
“Don’t worry,” Oliver began, realizing I was about to become a blubbering mess, he urged me to look at him, “I’ll get her back to the safe house within an hour.”
Now that we had The Collective’s names, as well as their hidden operatives’ identities all over the world, it made it easier to avoid certain people or places in the process of dismantling their group. We were able to confirm no one was on their payroll in law enforcement in Florence.
“And you all plan to stay there while POTUS begins the purge?” I’d swear I heard Jack talking through Griffin again, which was almost comical since once upon a time ago Jack had hated Griffin. Fortunately the misunderstanding that’d caused those feelings had since been resolved.
Oliver looked to me to answer as Teddy parked and we both unbuckled.
“As long as I don’t endanger my parents and sister by staying here, then yes.” I borrowed Teddy’s words and tweaked them, sharing, “There’s no place I’d rather be.”
“No place like home,” Teddy said as he shut off the engine, reminding me of how I’d once felt a bit like Dorothy winding up in Oz. And, jeez . . .
I kind of am. There was even someone behind the curtain, too. Twelve of them. Well, now down to ten.
“Roger that,” Griffin responded. “Savanna gives her love, by the way. She’d kill me if I forgot to tell you.”
“Send my love to her as well. Tell her thank you, and I’m sorry she’s postponing her book release for all of this, but we’ll make it one hell of a party when this is finished,” I promised. And that reminded me, I still needed to get my advanced copy from Sam’s cabin.
“Ah, her book release is the last thing she’s worried about, trust me. But she’ll be good.” Despite where Griffin was at, and what he’d just done, I could still hear the pride in his tone when talking about his wife. “She said something about maybe it’d be best to get her second book written before releasing her first. Anyway, uh, good luck. Break a leg? Hell, I don’t know what to say in this situation, but uh, enjoy?”
His statement-questions had me smiling as I said, “Thank you.”
Once Oliver ended the call, he quickly exited the SUV and circled it to open the door for me. He helped me out, drew both my hands into his big ones, and nuzzled his nose against mine while murmuring, “You’re about to make their family whole again.”
“Puzzle finally complete. No more missing pieces.” I leaned back to find his dark eyes. “Especially because I have you.”
The side of his lip lifted, hitting me with that sexy, wolfish grin I loved so much. “You’re never getting rid of me.”
“Same,” I said as an Italian officer wrested my attention his way, gesturing for us to head inside while also motioning to our fleet of protection to hang back. “He comes with me, though.” I tugged Oliver’s hand, and the officer waved us both in.
“We’ll be here when you’re ready,” Easton let us know before we went inside.
“They’re waiting for you in my office.” Based on his suit and lack of visible badge, the man who greeted us was more than likely a detective.
His English was flawless, and my Italian was minimal, but I went with a, “Grazie” anyway. From what I’d learned, my parents spoke English as well, which would help make our conversation much smoother. I was determined to learn Italian, though. I couldn’t imagine how different my life would be had I never been taken that day in the park.
The thought had me stopping in my tracks inside the small station.
Oliver brought his mouth near my ear, holding my hand tight inside his as he asked, “You okay?”
Eyes on my sandals, my thoughts racing, I whispered, “My life would be completely different had they not taken me,” I repeated what’d been on my mind. “I wouldn’t want that, though. Because then we’d never have met. I’m feeling . . . conflicted.” I slowly faced him while the detective waited patiently for me.
“Hey.” With his free hand, he cupped my cheek. “Don’t you know I would’ve still found you? You could’ve been anywhere in the world, and I would’ve found you. I’d do anything for you.”
“Fly for me,” I whispered at the memory of his words back in that hotel room on Valentine’s Day. And die for me. Kill for me. And all the things. But I held back those words. “I love you.”
He set his lips to mine, a soft kiss despite the audience. It felt perfectly right.
A sense of calm settled over me. My heart wasn’t galloping anymore, my breathing was steady, and my mind became serene.
When I looked around, I saw a few officers gathered behind the detective, watching us. More than likely not shocked about our PDA, but the fact it wasn’t every day a missing child showed back up, especially thirty years later.
“Now I’m ready,” I told the detective, keeping my hand inside Oliver’s.
The man, who had to be my dad’s age—well, Tony’s age—didn’t move right away, and just stared at me for a few long seconds.
“I’ve been holding off on retirement, but I think I finally can.” His dark brown eyes fixed on mine. “I was a new detective back when you were taken. Held your mother in my arms as she cried. Promised her I’d find you and never stopped looking. And now here you are.” He removed a handkerchief and dabbed at his eyes. “These are the days that make all the hard ones worth it.”
Well, hell, now I’m going to cry. He offered me his handkerchief. “Grazie.” A few moments later, he escorted us to his office, and there went my pulse. Flying again. A good nervous. The best possible kind. And when he opened the door, the first person I saw was Adelina, standing there, just inside.
Her eyes locked with mine and the cup she’d been holding crashed to the floor and shattered. She remained staring at me in shock. Because she knew, just like I did. We didn’t need to be identical to feel the truth before us, that we were sisters.
“Mya?” She’d said my name in a way I could actually hear that extra A roll with it from the original spelling.
Still in the doorway, Oliver behind me but holding my hand, all I could do was nod before turning my attention to the two other people there.
My mother placed a trembling hand over her mouth, visibly shaking from head to toe as my father remained fixed behind her equally stunned.
“Hi,” I mouthed, on the verge of collapsing had Oliver not been right behind me.
“Mio Dio.” My mother knocked into a chair on her way to get to me, her sob breaking free. She narrowly avoided the spilled coffee on the floor before crushing me against her.
Oliver let go of my hand so I could hug her back. From the corner of my eye, I saw Adelina remaining a statue as my father joined us in the hug, crying as well.
They kept repeating my name as if this weren’t real.
And is it?
I had to keep asking myself that as my parents held me tight. My mother and I looked even more alike than Adelina and I did. She had a Monica Bellucci thing going on, and I just . . .
When they finally let go of me, I set my blurry eyes on my sister. “Hi,” I said again.
“I’ve been looking for you,” Adelina whispered, her lower lip trembling. She was still frozen in place. No tears. Just wide-eyed disbelief.
“I didn’t know you all existed,” I explained as I moved away from the doorway so Oliver and the detective could join us. “I found out a few days ago.”
“It’s really you.” Adelina covered her mouth before unleashing the tears, and when she lifted her hands up, I spied the Glock holstered at her side.
“It’s me.” I broke into tears again, and went to her since she’d yet to budge, wrapping my arms around her. She finally loosened up and hugged me back.
“We kept our house here hoping one day you’d come back,” my mom said from behind me, her thick Italian accent music to my ears. And I’d swear a distant memory reached through the chaos in my mind. A memory of her singing to me as a child.
Once Adelina and I untangled ourselves from our hug, I looked over to see Oliver blotting tears from his face, eyes red. Then I turned my attention to my parents and hiked up one shoulder. “I finally made it home.”